SC seeks report from Sindh CS, Wapda Chief

ISLAMABAD Supreme Court, Friday, rejecting the irrigation departments report on Manchar lake, directed Chief Secretary Sindh and Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to ensure early execution of its water cleanliness project to save the business and lives of more than 50,000 inhabitants of the area. Justice Sair Ali, addressing the WAPDA and Irrigation Departments officials, observed, It is one of the biggest human tragedies but you are going to commit murder of environment, adding, it is not a mere financial issue but it belongs to mental approach and proper panning. Chief Justice remarked that due to polluted water, human and sea life is at the brink of collapse. He said that complexion of the residents revealed the sensitivity of the issue. People are suffering form different fatal diseases like Hepatitis A, B and C, CJP observed. He asked the WAPDA officials, Do you know the importance of Manchar Lake, Asias biggest sweet water lake. WAPDAs Director Project apprised the court that due to funds shortage desired cleanliness project at Manchar Lake could not be executed timely. Justice Khalilur Rehmad Ramday observed that no one was conscious of such a critical issue. According to details, the modern barrage system and man-made drains for water management had brought with them an unchecked disposal of effluent and chemical waste from factories and cities in the north the more populous Punjab province. This has led to pollution of the lake and the general agriculture in the area. Many conservationists have for long opposed the construction of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD), which diverts drain water from the upper barrages and into the Manchar. This brings into Manchar effluent, silt as well as saline water. The water from Manchar, also a reservoir, is subsequently released untreated into the Arabian Sea, posing a serious threat to the environment and marine resources. According to water experts, people who get drinking water from Manchar Lake, which has 4000-ppm salt concentration can get water-borne diseases, and develop kidney and liver failure in the long term. The present drainage from the outfall drain into Manchar should immediately be stopped, they argue. In 2004, contaminated water from the RBOD into Manchar Lake, which was then drained into the Indus River, resulted in many deaths and hospitalisation due to an outbreak of gastroenteritis of thousands of people, mostly children, in Hyderabad. The case has been adjourned till August 6.